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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855961">Come Back To What You Know</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanoftheknight/pseuds/fanoftheknight'>fanoftheknight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>More Than Words [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Game of Thrones (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Mary and Jorah, More Than Words deleted scene</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:47:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,234</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855961</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanoftheknight/pseuds/fanoftheknight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A deleted scene from More Than Words.</p>
<p>Fresh from visiting his father in the hospital, Jorah is still struggling with the demons that haunt him at night and so it's a good thing he has two strong women in his life that won't let him suffer alone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jorah Mormont/Daenerys Targaryen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>More Than Words [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1495487</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Come Back To What You Know</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a deleted scene of sorts from More Than Words and is set a week or so after Jorah visited his father in the hospital. It ended up being far too long to be a chapter and so I've decided to post it as a standalone piece.</p>
<p>The story will make more sense if you have read More Than Words first.</p>
<p>I hope you all enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Daenerys found herself pulled violently from the pleasant dream she was having, her eyes springing open to find that Jorah was thrashing in his sleep, no doubt trapped in another of the horrific nightmares he’d been experiencing recently.</p>
<p>He’d had nightmares the entire time that she’d known him, but after Jorah came face to face with his father once more after so many years of bitterness between them, his demons were now haunting him far worse than they ever had before.</p>
<p>Since visiting his father in the hospital after Jeor had a heart attack, the restless nights had taken their toll on the man she loved and while she could soothe and distract Jorah during the day, there was little she could do when his overworked and overtired mind trapped him in a never-ending maelstrom of terrifying dreams.</p>
<p>Daenerys ducked her head as her husband’s flailing arm barely missed her face as he fought some unseen ghoul in his mind. At a loss for what else to do, she shook his shoulder, raising her voice and calling his name in an effort to wake him up.</p>
<p>Nothing seemed to work as Jorah continued to reach out and bat away whatever he was seeing in his dreams and Daenerys feared that she’d have to slap him awake like she had the day they’d visited his father in the hospital.</p>
<p>“Jorah!” She shouted, hoping her voice would be able to reach him as she shook him violently this time.</p>
<p>Without warning, Jorah threw himself off the bed with a scream, cracking his head on the bedside table with enough force to knock himself out. Daenerys gasped as he flopped bonelessly to the floor where he lay unmoving.</p>
<p>She ran to his side in an instant, sobbing when her efforts to rouse him earned no response. After what seemed like an age, Jorah finally opened his eyes and groaned, his hand going to his head as he sat up, wincing and screwing his eyes shut.</p>
<p>“What - “ </p>
<p>Daenerys placed a hand on his shoulder, reaching for Jorah’s mobile on the table behind him and dialling a familiar number. “Keep still,” she told him, waiting for the other person to pick up.</p>
<p>She let out a sigh of relief as Mary answered the phone, her voice muffled by sleep.</p>
<p>“Jorah, is everything ok?” Mary asked, she was surprised when she heard Daenerys’ voice instead.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Mary, I know it’s early but…” Daenerys began, keeping both her hands on her husband’s shoulders as he tried to get up. “Stay still, will you?” </p>
<p>Coming fully awake, Mary sat up straighter in bed. </p>
<p>“Is everything ok, hen?” Mary asked softly.</p>
<p>“It’s Jorah,” Daenerys replied. “He’s had a bit of an…” she trailed off, trying to find the right words without betraying her husband’s confidence. </p>
<p>She should have known by now that Mary understood Jorah better than most and would be well aware of the terrors that haunted him at night.</p>
<p>“I understand,” Mary said, trying to reassure the other woman. “What’s he gone and done to himself this time?”</p>
<p>“He hit his head on the bedside table,” Daenerys answered, and Mary could hear her stubborn old friend mumble something to his wife. “He was out cold for a few minutes and I’m worried…”</p>
<p>Mary glanced at the alarm clock and gave Stan a pained smile, silently apologising for waking him as she pulled herself out of bed. “I’m just getting dressed, I’ll be there as soon as I can, but in the meantime, make sure you keep him awake until I get there.”</p>
<p>After saying goodbye, Daenerys placed the phone behind her on the bed, her frustration finally breaking the surface of her calm demeanour as Jorah tried to move from his seated position on the floor. Still slightly dazed, she was easily able to push him back to lean against the bed.</p>
<p>“Daenerys, I’m fine,” Jorah said as she pulled down the bedsheet and laid it over his legs. “This really isn’t necessary.” His body betrayed him as a wave of dizziness hit him causing him to groan and rub his forehead.</p>
<p>“Stay still,” she retorted, her tone firm. “Mary’s coming to check you over.” She heard her husband mutter something under his breath. “For once in your life will you stop being so goddamn stubborn?”</p>
<p>Her tone was harsher than she’d intended it to be, she suddenly felt bad for raising her voice at him. It was hardly as if he’d chosen to have a nightmare and willingly throw himself from their bed. She knew how badly he’d been sleeping lately.</p>
<p>She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before apologising, squeezing his hand with more pressure when she saw his eyelids flutter shut.</p>
<p>“Jorah, you need to stay awake until Mary gets here.”</p>
<p>With great effort, Jorah opened his eyes. “Hmmm? I’m tired.”</p>
<p>She shook him by the shoulders. No doubt he was exhausted after weeks of poor sleep, but she knew how dangerous it could be to let a person with a head injury fall asleep without getting proper medical attention first.</p>
<p>She shook his shoulder again. </p>
<p>“Jorah? Tell me about the book you’re working on,” she prompted him, trying to get him to focus on anything apart from his desire to sleep again for several hours.</p>
<p>He looked at her drowsily. “It’s the middle of the night, can I tell you over breakfast?”</p>
<p>She sat down opposite Jorah, her back resting against the wall knowing that no matter how tired he felt, he would push himself beyond his limits if she asked him to.</p>
<p>“I can’t sleep, Jorah, please.”</p>
<p>The longing in her voice seemed to have the desired effect as Jorah shifted under the bedsheet and pulled himself into a more comfortable position.</p>
<p>“It’s a modern-day setting,” he began as Daenerys listened intently. Her husband was a incredible storyteller and she was sure that his latest work would sell just as many copies as his previous masterpieces.</p>
<p>“A young woman walks into a coffee shop one morning…she’s had a shitty weekend and not exactly looking forward to going to work. She jumps off the train and goes to the first coffee shop she comes across.”</p>
<p>Daenerys smiled. “Coffee? I’m liking the sound of this story already.”</p>
<p>Rubbing at his eyes to bring himself further awake, Jorah cleared his throat and continued.</p>
<p>“She’s taken by surprise when she sees the barista behind the counter, and she gets the strangest feeling that they’ve met somewhere before.”</p>
<p>“Is the barista a handsome guy?” Daenerys teased, knowing that although there was a great deal of violence and bloodshed in some of Jorah’s best-known works, underneath it all was often a tragic love story of two souls fated to be together.</p>
<p>Jorah gave her a tired smile. “In an older man type of way.”</p>
<p>“So what happens next?” She asked. Jorah had already piqued her interest and she needed to know more, even though she knew she’d be the first person he shared his initial draft with. It amazed her at times as to how he came up with so many compelling and creative ideas and as much as he would like to deny it, he fully deserved the huge success his books had become.</p>
<p>“They go their separate ways and the barista is sure that he’ll never see her again, but she keeps coming back to the coffee shop day after day, until she suddenly stops coming in about a month before Christmas. He’s shocked when she finally turns up again on Christmas Eve…he’s been having all sorts of inappropriate dreams about her and so when she turns up that morning, he decides to throw caution to the wind and gift her with a Danish pastry to go with her coffee.”</p>
<p>Daenerys let out a contented sigh. “Oh my god, how cute and romantic is that? So what did she say?”</p>
<p>“He gets all embarrassed and thinks he’s made a massive idiot of himself,” Jorah continued. “He reaches for the pastry to take it back, cursing himself for his stupidity when she grabs his wrist and kisses him. He asks her why she kissed him, and he thinks it’s because he makes good coffee…she tells him that his coffee tastes awful and that the only reason she kept coming back… was so that she could see him.”</p>
<p>Daenerys held her hands near her heart, giving her husband an adoring look.</p>
<p>“Oh my god, Jorah. That is so perfect, I love it!”</p>
<p>He gave her another tired smile. “You’re my wife, you’re supposed to say that.”</p>
<p>Daenerys grabbed her dressing gown as she heard the doorbell chime.</p>
<p>“That’ll be Mary. Don’t move,” she ordered Jorah, her finger wagging at him.</p>
<p>Jorah groaned as moments later Mary entered the bedroom, kneeling down to check her friend over.</p>
<p>“Ah hen, what have you gone and done to yourself this time?” Mary said, turning Jorah’s head to the side to check for bruising and swelling. She prodded an area just above his right temple and it provoked a wince from the injured man.</p>
<p>“Does that hurt?” Mary asked, prodding the area again.</p>
<p>Jorah gave her a sour look. “Only when you poke at it,” he groused.</p>
<p>It earned a laugh from Mary. “Well, it sure hasn’t knocked any of the stubbornness out of you,” she observed dryly. She turned to Daenerys who was hovering a few feet away. “Do you have any ice?” The nurse asked.</p>
<p>“It’s a bit early for day drinking, Mary,” Jorah replied, giving his old friend a wan smile.</p>
<p>“We do,” Daenerys replied. </p>
<p>“Can you get me some and wrap it in a dishcloth?” She asked the other woman with an encouraging smile before turning her attention back to her reluctant patient. “And you,” she wagged a finger at him, “sit still and be quiet.”</p>
<p>Jorah opened and then closed his mouth, earning another satisfied nod from the nurse.</p>
<p>“Here,” Daenerys said as she passed the ice pack to Mary.</p>
<p>She nodded her thanks, taking one of Jorah’s hands and instructing him to hold the ice to the side of his head. </p>
<p>“Ouch,” he grumbled.</p>
<p>Mary tutted at him. “It’ll hurt a lot worse if we don’t bring down the swelling.” She then turned to Daenerys. “How long did you say he was out for?”</p>
<p>Daenerys chewed on her bottom lip. “A minute, maybe two,” she answered. </p>
<p>It felt like a lifetime though.</p>
<p>“What’s your name,” Mary asked her patient, instructing him to open his eyes wide and follow her finger.</p>
<p>“Really?” Jorah replied. “Are we doing this?”</p>
<p>“What’s your name,” Mary repeated.</p>
<p>“Jorah.”</p>
<p>Mary pointed over her shoulder at Daenerys. “And who is that?”</p>
<p>“My beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful wife,” he replied with a soppy grin as he looked at Daenerys.</p>
<p>“And who am I?” Mary asked.</p>
<p>Jorah shot the nurse another sour look. “A massive pain in the arse.”</p>
<p>It had been the kind of answer Mary had been expecting and this hadn’t been the first time that they’d played this game. If he could be sarcastic then so could she.</p>
<p>She held up her middle finger, the back of her hand facing toward her old friend.</p>
<p>“And how many fingers am I holding up?”</p>
<p>“Very funny,” he said, rolling his eyes before letting out a pained groan and mirroring her hand gesture with one of his own.</p>
<p>After taking his blood pressure and measuring his pulse, Mary finally relented and allowed Jorah to return to the bed, although he insisted that he was no longer tired.</p>
<p>“You’re going to feel it in a couple of hours, hen. Best get some rest while you can…you’re gonna have one hell of a headache later.”</p>
<p>Jorah didn’t look convinced, so Daenerys used her womanly charms, playing on the fact that he would always do anything she asked until he finally relented.</p>
<p>“Thank you for coming round,” Daenerys said as she flicked on the kettle to make herself and Mary a cup of coffee.</p>
<p>“Anytime, you know that, pet,” Mary replied, taking a seat at the kitchen table. “He’s not been sleeping well, I take it?”</p>
<p>The frown on Daenerys’ face gave Mary her answer.</p>
<p>“They’ve been worse since he saw his father,” Daenerys answered, preparing the coffee while waiting for the water to boil. “A lot worse.”</p>
<p>“I take it that he won’t talk about them?”</p>
<p>Daenerys shook her head, picking at a thread on her dressing gown. “He tells me that he can’t remember them or that they were just some silly dream, but I hate to see him suffering.”</p>
<p>Seeing Daenerys’ bottom lip tremble, Mary stood and made her way over to the younger woman and hugged her, knowing full well just how stubborn and self-sacrificing Jorah could be.</p>
<p>“He’s as stubborn as an ox,” Mary said sympathetically. “He’ll likely never change, you know that, don’t you, hen?”</p>
<p>“I know…it just feels like he doesn’t trust me to understand what he’s going through.”</p>
<p>Nodding her thanks for the coffee, Mary sat back down at the table.</p>
<p>"It’s nothing you’ve done,” the nurse said, “he’s always been that way…never saying how much he’s struggling until it’s too late.”</p>
<p>Daenerys joined Mary at the table. </p>
<p>“What do you mean?” Daenerys asked.</p>
<p>Mary wasn’t sure how much she should say, afraid that she would be betraying Jorah in some way, but she was the one to bring it up, not Daenerys.</p>
<p>“He’s told you about Lynesse?” Mary asked, taking a sip of her coffee.</p>
<p>Daenerys frowned. </p>
<p>“Some of it,” she replied, sitting cross-legged on the kitchen chair. “I know it ended really badly between them.”</p>
<p>‘Badly’ was a huge understatement. Their relationship had crashed and burned and left Jorah penniless.</p>
<p>“You know about the loan sharks and what they did to him?” Mary asked.</p>
<p>Daenerys nodded her head. </p>
<p>“They took everything of value and left him for dead.”</p>
<p>Even now, the mere thought of what Jorah must have been through sent a shiver down her spine.</p>
<p>Mary nodded, tears brimming in her eyes as she recalled the fateful day Jorah had arrived on her doorstep covered head to toe in cuts and bruises.</p>
<p>
  <i>“Oh my god,” Mary said as she opened the door.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She almost didn’t recognise the gaunt, beaten man standing on her doorstep with a small backpack dangling from his hand, yet one look into those soulful blue eyes of his…</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She recognised him in an instant.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Jorah. Her best friend, the man who was like a brother to her.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He looked at her apologetically, his bruised bottom lip trembling.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Mary…I’m sorry….I didn’t know what else to do.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She pulled him closer, ignoring the way he tensed and groaned at the contact. She held him tightly as he finally broke down and sobbed in her arms.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She had no idea how long they stayed like that, he clinging to her desperately as he finally let go of some of the hurt that he’d tried so hard to bury deep inside himself. It had always been his nature to swallow it down and pretend as if he were fine, as if nothing had happened, until it all became too much and flowed out of him in a tsunami of emotions.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Regaining his bearings, Jorah tried to pull away and apologise, only to find himself gently pushed toward the living room and the sofa.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“What on earth has happened?” Mary asked as she sat opposite her best friend. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She hadn’t heard from him in months and was aware that Lynesse would have demanded that Jorah leave his friends and family behind. She hadn’t liked the woman from the moment she met her.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“They released me from the hospital yesterday and I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Jorah replied vaguely, and it immediately made Mary concerned for his wellbeing. What the hell had happened to leave him in such a state?</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I was three months behind on the rent. The landlord changed the locks by the time I got home.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Mary shook her head. None of what Jorah was saying made any sense.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>After finally relenting and allowing Mary to send some of his work to a publisher, Jorah’s first few books had been a success and had given him a fair amount of financial freedom after being discharged from the Army. Although he was by no means rich, the income from the sales of his books meant that he was hardly struggling for money either.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Where’s Lynesse?” Mary asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach telling her that the money-grabbing bitch would have run off when the money had run out.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Her question prompted no response and so she repeated it, louder this time.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Jorah, where’s Lynesse…why isn’t she with you?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Her words seemed to finally permeate the fog Jorah seemed to be in.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“The police couldn’t find her; they think she’s in Europe somewhere.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“The police?” Mary repeated incredulously. “Just what the hell has happened? Tell me, Jorah, and don’t leave anything out.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>For over half an hour, Jorah recounted how Lynesse’s spending had gradually spiralled out of control, how she raged at her husband and tore him down any time she had the chance, how she had borrowed money from dangerous criminals, drugged her husband in an effort to manipulate him further and then deserted him and left him at the mercy of those loan sharks.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She sat there, stunned into silence as each word Jorah spoke tore at her heart. Mary began cursing herself for ever letting Jorah get involved with Lynesse in the first place. She knew only too well how things had spiralled out of control after the truck explosion in Afghanistan and how difficult Jorah had found not only the excruciatingly painful rehabilitation, but also readjusting to a civilian way of life.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Jorah had been vulnerable and Lynesse had spotted his weakness, exploiting it and using it against him, separating him from the people who knew him best and cared for him the most, demanding that he move down to London to make her happy.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>It had all been part of her devious plan to manipulate a good and honest man and then discard him the moment he was no longer useful to her.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>There would be time for recriminations and the ugly post-mortem on Jorah’s failed marriage later. Right now, he needed his friend to take care of him, to keep him safe and protect him from anyone who meant him harm.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>The man who sat before her wasn’t the strong and stoic Jorah Mormont she remembered. The man sitting before her was a weakened shell of the man he used to be. He was vulnerable and defenceless, and it brought out every maternal and protective instinct within her.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“What are you doing?” Jorah asked tiredly as Mary picked his backpack up and searched it.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I’m looking for the pain killers the hospital gave you when you left,” she replied, not looking up from the bag, smiling when she found the paper bag full of boxes of pills, along with his discharge papers. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Ignoring his grumbles of protest, Mary made her way to the kitchen, popping out four pills and getting a glass of water from the tap. While still in the kitchen, she unfolded the piece of paper with Jorah’s discharge notes, feeling the anger surge through her at what had been done to him:</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Fractured skull<br/>Fractured cheekbone<br/>Broken clavicle<br/>Four broken ribs<br/>Ruptured spleen</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Mary wiped the angry tears from her eyes, furious for Jorah and what those thugs had done to him. He was a well-trained solider, why hadn’t he fought back?</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She was well aware at how self-sacrificing her oldest friend was. No matter what happened, he would always apportion any guilt and blame squarely on his own shoulders. She knew how easy he found it to castigate and punish himself. He would have let those animals beat him senseless if he felt it was what he deserved.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Getting her emotions back under control, Mary handed him the pills and the glass of water, instructing him to take them.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I shouldn’t have come here,” Jorah said, wincing as he tried to lift himself from the sofa. “You have a family to take care of. I’ll find somewhere else to stay.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“With what money?” Mary shoot back, her hands on her hips.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She knew Jorah would not have an answer to that.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You’re staying here so I can look after you,” she continued. His gaunt features were a testament to the fact that he hadn’t been taking care of himself for a significant period of time now.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Jorah looked at her, his blue eyes full of sorrow.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“What about Stan and the boys? You don’t need me under your feet, too.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Stan’s away on business until tomorrow night and the boys are at a summer camp this week, so it looks like you’re at the whim of my tender mercies for the time being.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Jorah let out a deep sigh, wincing as his injured ribs twinged at the sensation.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You don’t have to,” he said, his voice indicating that one final prod from Mary would see him cave into her demands.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“But I want to,” she replied, holding out a hand to help him to his feet and guide him toward the guest bedroom.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I can walk by myself,” Jorah grumbled, although the painkillers Mary gave him were beginning to take effect as his feet seemed determined to go in opposite directions from one another as he stumbled down the hallway.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>The pills were working faster than either of them expected and Mary suspected that Jorah had caught the first train back to Edinburgh and had barely eaten or slept since being released from the hospital.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She managed to deposit Jorah on the side of the bed before kneeling, removing his shoes and unbuttoning his shirt, only for his shaky hand to stop her.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I can do it,” he mumbled as his chin dropped further toward his chest.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She batted his hand out of the way and continued her work, biting down on her anger as she saw the still-healing scar from Jorah’s ruptured spleen and the strapping around his broken ribs. Next came the issue of how she would remove his trousers as the medication pulled him closer and closer towards unconsciousness.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Somehow, she managed to get Jorah to stand for long enough to undo his belt and trousers before he flopped back to the soft mattress. Mary lifted his legs onto the bed and covered him with the duvet.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>At any other time, trying to undress a grown man that you considered a brother would have been mortifying. Despite their promise as ten-year olds, there had never been anything, but a platonic, sibling-like love between them. Right now, all she felt was anger towards the people responsible for hurting her best friend so badly.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He’d been asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and after placing a kiss on Jorah’s forehead, Mary quietly shut the door and left him to what she hoped would be a peaceful sleep.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>It was not to be.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>While Jorah slept soundly for a few hours, nightmares began to plague his sleep before long. The painkillers the hospital gave him were notorious for their hallucinogenic side effects. Mary was back in the room in an instant the moment that she heard Jorah cry out.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>By the time she made it into the room, he was sitting up in bed trying to wipe something unseen off of his hands, no doubt still in the grips of his dream.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“No, no, NO!” Jorah shouted, pulling at his hands as if he could remove them from his arms. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Mary caught his arms easily enough. “It’s ok, Jorah,” she crooned, trying to soothe him. “Wake up. It’s ok,”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He looked at her even though she was sure he wasn’t fully conscious.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“It’s all over me,” he whimpered. “Please, get it off!”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She looked at his hands, turning them over to inspect each side. “There’s nothing there,” she reassured him. “They’re clean.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Finally, Jorah appeared to gather his bearings.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“There’s no blood?” he asked quietly, his voice shaking.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“No, hen. There’s no blood, I promise you.”</i>
</p>
<p>“I know what it’s like to feel protective of him, Daenerys. Believe me, I know,” Mary said, sipping at her coffee. “And I know without a doubt that he trusts you with his life. You’re everything to him.”</p>
<p>Daenerys let out a deep breath. “I just wish that he didn’t feel like he has to suffer alone. I want him to tell me so I can help him.”</p>
<p>Mary reached out her hand and squeezed Daenerys’ arm. </p>
<p>“You already have, in more ways than you know.”</p>
<p>Daenerys looked at the other woman, confused at her response.</p>
<p>Mary knew just how badly the relationship with Lynesse had affected him and how deep those scars ran.</p>
<p>
  <i>It had been three weeks since Jorah arrived on her doorstep and while the nightmares had lessened considerably, her friend was far from ok, both physically and emotionally. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>At least she had managed to get three square meals a day inside him and as the pain of his injuries lessened, his appetite improved, and he began to put back on some of the weight he had lost. It also didn’t hurt that Jorah was a big fan of her cooking, just like her sons and husband were.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>If Jorah had been worried that Stan would resent him being in their home, her husband said nothing about it and continued to treat Jorah the way he always had - like a brother.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You’re Mary’s brother, so that makes you my family, too,” Stan told him the day he arrived home from his business trip as he clapped Jorah on the shoulder. “You can stay here for as long as you need.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>And the boys definitely enjoyed having their ‘Uncle Jorah’ to kick a football around with. Stan would be the first to admit that he’d never been particularly skilled when it came to sports and with Jorah having the grace and physique of a natural athlete, the boys hovered around and begged Jorah to play football with them in the large garden that backed onto their house in the suburbs.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>As Mary watched Jorah and the boys celebrating a goal from the kitchen window, she smiled at the thought of what a great father he would be. Her smile faltered when she recalled the three children Jorah had already lost with his first wife and then the car crash of a relationship he had with Lynesse, who had shown absolutely no maternal instincts whatsoever.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He’d been damaged so badly by his relationship with Lynesse that Mary feared Jorah would never venture back into the world outside, let alone think about starting a relationship with someone new.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>The back garden was the furthest Jorah had ventured in the three weeks he’d been living with them and it was an almost daily struggle to pull her friend out of the deep pit of depression he found himself in. If it wasn't for her sons, she doubted Jorah would have ever left the safe confines of their spare room at all.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Of course, she could completely understand why Jorah would want to shut himself off from the world. How much was this good and honest man supposed to take? He’d lost a wife, three children, been manipulated, exploited and left for dead by a woman who claimed to love him. He’d been shot, blown up and badly burned. No wonder he wanted to spend the rest of his life hiding away. What was the point when all life did was kick you in the teeth?</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>At least she’d convinced Jorah to begin writing again, suggesting to him that it might help him deal with some of the things she knew he was bottling up deep inside. He’d bristled at the suggestion but began writing in the notebooks Mary handed to him on a regular basis now that his laptop had been taken, either by Lynesse, the loan sharks, or Jorah’s landlord in payment for the money he supposedly owed.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She knew he felt guilty about not paying his way, knowing that he was another mouth to feed in an already busy household. She refused, of course, painfully aware that he had barely a penny left to his name. Still, it was just another thing that ate away at him, day after day.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>So busy watching Jorah and the boys playing football, Mary almost didn’t hear the doorbell ring. Wiping her hands on a dish cloth, she answered the door, surprised to find a courier standing on the other side with a clipboard and envelope.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I’ve got a delivery for a Jorah Mormont?” The courier said, checking his sheet.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Mary took the envelope, fearing that Jorah was now being sued for something else that Lynesse had somehow got him involved in.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>After signing for it, she took the letter and placed it on the kitchen table, staring at it as if it were malevolent. Not wanting to interrupt Jorah and the boys, she waited until they came back inside for refreshments before handing the letter to him.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Jorah opened the letter carefully, his eyes widening as he read the contents and Mary wasn’t sure whether his expression was due to shock or surprise.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Jorah, are you ok?” She asked as he continued to stare at the letter.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He remained silent.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Jorah, what is it?” She asked again, shooing the boys from the room.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Jorah?” She said for a third time.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He wordlessly handed it to her. She gasped as she read it.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Oh my god,” she whispered, reading the letter over and over.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She read it one last time just to make sure before launching herself into his arms, feeling his wrap around her several moments later. He was clearly still in shock.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>Dear Mr. Mormont,</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>Forgive my tardiness in contacting you, it would seem that you’ve become a hard man to track down as last I heard you were still in London with your wife.</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>I’m delighted to tell you that pre-orders for your latest title have gone through the roof, so much so that we’ll need to action another two print runs just to cover them. </b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>And that’s just in the UK.</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>America, Australia, Europe…everywhere, I’m getting calls night and day about meeting demands for print runs. We can’t print the books fast enough to meet the pre-orders, let alone when it goes on general sale.</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>Critics are raving about it and everyone is desperate to get their hands on the ‘book of the year’.</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>The publishers have forwarded  me a cheque for one million pounds so please let me know when and where you would like the money deposited.</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>Forgive my coarseness, but I am assuming that gold-digging bitch of a wife has left you and so I’ve already made arrangements for her to not see a penny of these funds in your impending divorce.</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>Don’t think of that cow for a moment longer, Jorah. Now, go and write me another best-seller.</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>Yours,</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <b>Olenna Tyrell</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>It took a number of hours for the contents of the letter to finally sink in for Jorah as he sat in the living room with a cup of coffee in his hand.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I’m not still dreaming, am I, Mary?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Well if you are, I am too,” she said, so happy that after years of rotten luck, her best friend had finally experienced something positive in his life. “Any idea what you’re going to do with the money?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Well, I need to pay you back for a start,” Jorah replied, his tone serious.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>She waved a hand to dismiss the thought. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You’ll do no such thing, Jorah Mormont.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>It was an argument that she eventually lost when three months after that fateful day he’d stood on her doorstep, he transferred enough money into her and Stan’s bank account that they could pay off their mortgage and then some.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You can do anything you want with the money…except give it back to me,” Jorah told her as she helped him move into his spacious new apartment in the middle of the city. </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He didn’t exactly have much in the way of belongings to move, but Mary, Stan and the kids helped him settle in all the same.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I can never repay you for everything you’ve done for me,” Jorah told her as he handed glasses of champagne to Mary and Stan and orange juice to the boys.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“We’ll accept the money on one condition,” Mary finally conceded.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Jorah took a sip of his champagne.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Which is?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Mary cupped his cheek tenderly, tears brimming in her eyes.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“That you go out there and live, Jorah. Don’t spend your life hiding away…you’re worth so much more than that.”</i>
</p>
<p>“I watched over him for years,” Mary said, sniffing back her tears. “Always hoping that someone would come into his life and change it for the better. I just never knew that it would take him having cancer to get him there.”</p>
<p>“I was so worried when he told me about his diagnosis, and I could see it in his eyes that maybe…” the words died in Mary’s mouth. “Maybe he was hoping that the chemotherapy wouldn’t work…that he thought he’d suffered enough in this life. And then you walked into the room and sat in his chair… You turned his life upside-down… you made him want to live again and I’ll always be grateful for that, more than you’ll ever know, hen.”</p>
<p>Daenerys drained the last of her coffee. “But what if I mess it up and get it wrong? I don’t want to ever hurt him.”</p>
<p>Mary chuckled. “You’ll argue and bicker like any couple does, but I’ve never seen anyone more in love than you two. Whatever happens, you’ll work it out.”</p>
<p>Mary finished the last of her coffee. “Right, let’s go and check on the wounded soldier,” she smiled as she motioned for Daenerys to follow he back to the bedroom.</p>
<p>“He looks so much like the little boy I remember from our childhood when he sleeps,” Mary said, almost not wanting ruin the cute picture by waking him.</p>
<p>She shook him gently by the shoulder as she sat on the side of the bed.</p>
<p>It earned a grunt from Jorah.</p>
<p>“Go away,” he mumbled, his eyes still closed.</p>
<p>“Just answer my questions and I’ll be out of your hair, I promise,” Mary replied, shaking his shoulder again. “Open those baby blues for me, hen.”</p>
<p>Rolling onto his back, Jorah shot the nurse a sour look.</p>
<p>“What’s your name?” Mary asked.</p>
<p>“Jorah.”</p>
<p>Mary pointed over her shoulder. “And who’s that?”</p>
<p>Jorah gave his wife a sleepy smile.</p>
<p>“My wife, Daenerys.”</p>
<p>“And who am I?” Mary asked, pointing at herself.</p>
<p>Jorah squinted through half-opened eyelids.</p>
<p>“My annoying, irritating, hen-pecking little sister,” he groused good-naturedly. “Did I pass?” He asked. “Can I go back to sleep now?”</p>
<p>She placed a kiss on his forehead, pulling the bedsheet up to his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Yes, my stubborn, hard-headed, infuriating big brother,” she replied. “Get some beauty sleep.”</p>
<p>Jorah’s only response was to turn on his side and bury his head into the pillow as sleep quickly claimed him once more.</p>
<p>“Right, I best be off and on my way to the hospital,” Mary said quietly as she closed the bedroom door. “Wake him every few hours and ask him his name and yours, just to make sure,” she said, shrugging on her coat. “Don’t be alarmed if he starts vomiting or feels dizzy, it’s perfectly normal with a mild concussion,” she reassured Daenerys. “If you can’t wake him or you’re worried, call for an ambulance, ok?”</p>
<p>Daenerys chewed nervously on her bottom lip.</p>
<p>“You think he’ll be ok?” She asked.</p>
<p>“With you by his side, I have no doubt that he’ll be fine, hen,” Mary replied before kissing her cheek and hugging her tightly. “Thank you, Daenerys.”</p>
<p>“What for?” Daenerys responded as they disengaged.</p>
<p>“For saving him,” Mary responded. “For bringing my brother back. I thought we’d lost him forever.”</p>
<p>Daenerys shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t do anything special. Besides, it was Jorah who saved me. I was so lonely and lost before I met him.”</p>
<p>“Yes, you did. You made him want to live again and for that I’ll always be forever thankful to you. That man means the world to me and so do you,” Mary replied. “I want you to know that you can always count on Stan and I. Whatever life throws at the two of you…we’ll be there for you. Anything you need, just ask.”</p>
<p>Daenerys hugged Mary once more.</p>
<p>“We’re so lucky to have you, thank you.”</p>
<p>Mary kissed her on the forehead before placing her hands on the smaller woman’s upper arms.</p>
<p>“That’s what family do, Daenerys. They look after each other.”</p>
<p>After saying a tearful goodbye, Mary made her way down to the street outside, safe in the knowledge that she could finally relax a little when it came to worrying about Jorah. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Mary was sure that, finally, Jorah had found the woman of his dreams and could start living the life he’d always deserved.</p>
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